Dispensers for napkins including inter-folded napkins are well known in the art. Typically such dispensers are spring-loaded dispensers as is shown, for example, in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,454 to Salzmann et al. This class of dispensers are typically placed on a countertop. There is shown in the '454 patent a napkin dispenser including a drawer which slides in and out of the housing and a push plate which also slides in the housing and is spring-biased to push the napkins forward. A pair of locks on the rear of the drawer in the preferred napkin dispenser pushes the plate forward when the drawer is open but pivot to release the push plate when the drawer is closed so the napkins are not pressed too tightly, even if napkins are overloaded in the drawer when it is open.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,679,703 to De Luca discloses a napkin dispenser configured to reduce bunching at the dispensing opening in the napkin dispenser. A pair of pressure relief rods are provided along the upper and lower portions of the dispenser face plate to relieve pressure between the face plate and the center portion of the napkin stack.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,343,415 to Radek shows a napkin dispenser designed for disposition on a restaurant table or counter housing a stack of paper napkins. The dispenser is in the form of a parallelepiped with a top axis opening for loading and removing napkins. The opening is generally rectangular or may taper slightly from one end to the other. A salient feature is that the edges of the opening extend outwardly providing a relatively narrow peripheral arcuate flange or lip around the opening, the effect of which is to lead a napkin gently outwardly without likelihood of damage to the exiting napkins.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,252 to Hope, Jr. et al. discloses a large capacity elevator type napkin dispenser including an elongated supporting structure or cage composed of series of spaced rod-like vertical supports. A stack of folded napkins is supported on a pressure plate that is mounted on a carriage adapted to slide vertically within the cage, whereas U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,442, also to Radek discloses a napkin dispenser provided with an aperture which is generally rectangular except for a concavely arcuate edge on one side from which the napkins are normally extracted. Two opposed sides of the opening normal to the arcuate edge are provided with a pair of relatively narrow spring-biased leaves resiliently extendable into the container to facilitate loading, the free edges of the leaves being longitudinally gently oblique and widening to the aforesaid arcuate edge. Each of the leaves has a longitudinal outwardly turned lip and the exposed corners of the leaves are rounded. The features are reported to contribute towards a convenient extraction of a napkin without damage.
As will be appreciated from the foregoing, spring-biased dispensers are prone to overfilling and malfunction and may damage product if the dispensers are misused. Gravity feed dispensers are simpler and less subject to malfunction; however they are more difficult to conveniently locate in establishments which require countertop access to the napkins.